Valkyrie
by xXJeaneaXx
Summary: Maxine was a semi-normal girl living in Montana when she got kidnapped by an overly honest angel one afternoon. How she became a hunter or a part of a family who weren't related to her by blood is beyond her, but it happened. Here's how...
1. Chapter 1: New Perspective

The Winchester brothers and their friends Bobby Singer and Castiel had been searching for a way to stop the impending fight between Michael and Lucifer. The only chance they had of actually winning was an anti-christ named Jesse, but he had run away leaving them with nothing. Since then, they'd sat around in Bobby's living feeling sorry for themselves. It'd been completely quiet before Bobby finally spoke up, "If there's an anti-christ, what about a Jesus christ?" At the question, everyone's eyes turned to look at the clueless angel leaning against one of the bookcases.

A face of realization appeared on Castiel's face before he disappeared, blowing the papers around where he'd been standing with a flap of his wings. He'd searched for hours for what would most likely be their last hope, and came up with two angels hovering about a high school in Montana.

"Castiel…" Diniel, a black-haired angel, hissed, pulling a metallic blade out from the jacket of the suit he wore. "Laylah, take the girl elsewhere." Diniel ordered, turning to the brunette woman beside him, Castiel's blade piercing through her neck before she had the chance to move. A bright light shone through where it had gone through before dimming down into nothing. _Girl? _Castiel was beyond confused. From what he'd seen, Earth's salvation was a _man._

Shock flitted across Diniel's face as Laylah fell to the floor dead. His jaw clenched and he gripped the blade in his hand tighter. Castiel showed remorse as he arrived at the conclusion that they may have been together since the child's birth, maybe earlier. Still, it didn't stop him from killing Diniel.

A girl named Maxine Kershaw hid in one refrigerators in the cafeteria of her high school, patiently waiting for the last people in the school to leave for Thanksgiving break so she could eat all their food and then go break into a few cars once the sun went down.

"TGIF." Max snorted as she crawled out, she only took the things that were going to go bad over the break with her as she moved through the dark cafeteria to the simply justified her actions as keeping the kids in her school from getting any fatter than they already were, and stuffed her face. She didn't stop to breathe until what sounded like wings flapping behind her drew her attention.

"What the hell…" Max breathed, her head turning to see what she thought might've been crows or pigeons that got through the doors. Instead, she saw a man standing in behind her, blocking her view of the cafeteria doors before her scenery suddenly changed when two fingers touched her forehead. She blinked and she was in a brightly lit room compared to the cafeteria filled to the brink with books and papers. The wallpaper looked old in what Max had guessed was originally a living room. The four men that occupied the room stared at her, most likely waiting for her to say something, but she was too busy trying to keep her eyes from burning out of her skull with the drastic change in lighting.

"Touch me again and I'll castrate you." Max warned, her eyes narrowed in the direction of the man that had brought her there to begin with. His dark blue eyes squinted into her icy blue in both confusion and curiosity. His back was hunched over ever so slightly and the sleeves of the trenchcoat he wore covered the top half of his hands, the suit he wore underneath was barely visible. Combined with his messy dark brown hair, he looked to be at least forty.

"Who is this, Cas?" A tall man asked, his hazel eyes being the second set to stare the clueless teenager down. His brown hair was half the length as Max's, making the girl subconsciously tug on the beanie covering her short blonde hair that barely brushed her shoulders. The change in clothing from the person who'd brought her there and the tall man was unusual. It was a little chilly outside seeing how it was mid November, but the fact that he wore _three_ layers of clothes inside seemed like overkill.

"None of your damn business. Now, take me back." Max demanded, standing from where she'd been placed on the cot under the large window in the room. It took her a minute to realize that it was snowing outside and not raining like it had been when she was at the high school. _How long have I been out? I don't even remember falling asleep…_

"Whoa, whoa. We can't do that." Another man with brown, spiked up hair and a scruffy face, said, seeming to be the second tallest. He stepped closer in an effort to calm Max down, his hunter's boots on the floor prompting Max to move farther away. He wore the same unnecessary three layers of clothes the tall man wore, but he seemed to be a few years older

"Take. Me. Back." Max hissed, her already light eyes glowing brighter the way angels' do. Electricity danced along her arm. She winced each time it touched her pale skin. She only acted the way she did as pure intimidation with no real intention of hurting them. But, they didn't know that, and the same fingers that touched her forehead before sent her to dreamland.

"Ain't she a feisty one." The oldest man in the room asked, wheeling himself around his desk in his wheelchair to get a better look at the girl. "You sure _she's _Jesus?" He asked adjusting the cap on his head.

"The angels protecting her seemed to think so." Castiel shrugged, throwing one of Max's arms around his neck to keep her from hitting the floor

"_She _needs someone to protect her? Sure." The scruffy man snorted, watching her from the corner of his eye as the electricity on her arms seemed to fade into her skin. It'd been made clear from the moment she got there that she wasn't like the Jesus in the books, if she was Jesus at all.

"Either way, she's gonna be pissed when she wakes up. Put her in the panic room in case she decides to tear down my house." The old man ordered, looking to the angel that brought her there.

He nodded and was in the panic room in seconds, dropping the girl on a cot in the middle of the room, the tall and scruffy man from earlier walked in through the doorway moments later to handcuff her to the bed.

Max's eyes opened to find herself in a different room that she was before with rusted walls and demonic symbols all around. Her body lurched up to look for a way out, but was brought back down by the handcuffs on her wrists and ankles and the pain in her chest that felt like someone was scratching at her ribs. _Are you kidding me?_

"Hey!" Max screamed at no one in particular, "Let me out of here you perverted bastards!" She was completely unaware that three of the four were standing outside the door quietly to see what she would and/or could do. When no one answered, she figured then was her best chance of getting out, and her eyes glowed again towards the vent above her head as leaves rustled above. _Come on..._ She egged on the tree branch that tied itself around the fan as another worked its way in. A triumphant smirk slid onto Max's face as it wrapped itself around her restraints. _Bitches thought they could hold me down. _She froze the cuffs and the branches broke them with ease with a cracking sound. "Bastards…" Max hissed one last time as she looked at her pale frostbitten ankles and wrists. She knew when the feeling came back, it would hurt like a bitch. _Might as well get it over with. _Her skin grew warmer and she could feel the blood rushing in all at once. It felt like when you cut off the circulation in your legs when you crossed them, but ten times worse.

She'd originally stood up from the cot when she broke free, but fell to the floor when the pain became too much for her. She groaned in pain just wanting it to be over already, nearly burning herself when her attention went to the scraping near the door. She moved to see if she could find a way out, but all she could do was get rid of the tree branches before the door unlatched and screeched open to reveal the scruffy man, the tall man, and the blue-eyed man. "Are you okay?" The tallest one asked, quickly kneeling down in front of Max, but she scooted away.

"Can I help you with something?" She snapped, "Know what? I take that back. Go fuck yourselves." A hooded glare was cast to the three before she stood again

"Ouch." The scruffy man muttered

"Look, we're sorry about all this, but we need your help." The tall man pleaded as he backed away

"Help?!" Max screeched incredulously, "Hell no! Especially not if _this_ is how you ask someone for help."

"Even if we told you that you could stop the apocalypse?" The scruffy one asked, not a hint of a lie like Max thought would be there on his face.

"You're one of _those _people. Look, dude, if their was an apocalypse coming, we'd know." Max deadpanned, though she _was _intrigued by what they were saying

"No, you wouldn't. Just like you don't know ghosts, demons, and other monsters exist." The tall one shook his head. Max started to believe what they were saying, they could tell by the way her eyes dropped to look at the burned and scarred tips of her fingers. _Am I a monster? _"Let's start over, okay? I'm Sam Winchester and this is my older brother, Dean." The tall one said, motioning to the scruffy man, "We hunt monsters." Dean smiled for a split second at Max before Sam continued, "This is Castiel. He's an angel."

"So, you're gonna kill me then? Awesome." Max sighed, a little bit of relief showing itself. She'd equated herself with the monster Frankenstein had made, and prepared herself for when the townspeople got their pitchforks. It'd only made sense that people who killed monsters would kill her."

"No, you aren't a monster." Sam snapped, sounding almost offended that she'd even suggest it.

"Alright, then what am I, because I'm pretty damn confident that I'm not an angel." Max sighed, ashamed to actually be believing anything her kidnappers said. She felt like a dumbass, but something about them made her trust them. She was sure she'd regret it later.

"No, you are no angel. You are Jesus Christ." Castiel spoke up

"Way to lay it on there, Cas." Dean snorted

"Sure... Cause I'm God's tranny son. I think I'd know if my dad was God." Max scoffed

"Really? 'Cause Cas said he said he found you at a high school by yourself." Sam pointed out, starring Max down

"After school activities." Max lied

"At 9 at night?" Sam asked with a cocked eyebrow

"Community service takes a while." Max lied seamlessly, "Anyways, I'm Max. I guess I'm helping you stop the apocalypse...if there's food." She said, saluting with two fingers along with the crooked smile on her face.


	2. Chapter 2: Human

Bobby and Max had holed themselves up in Bobby's living room, Bobby with his face in one of his giant books and Max flipping through a journal Sam and Dean had given her before they left on a job. She was a little skeptical when they said it would, 'help her understand what she was getting herself into.' It seemed like a man who'd started a journal after his wife, Mary, died, but as she read on, she started to understand what they meant the journal turned into an encyclopedia of everything unnatural. She noticed a change, and thought that maybe that'd be her too. But, then, did she really have the option of leaving? She'd gotten lost in her own thoughts, and didn't realize how long she was out.

"You still alive over there?" Bobby asked, not looking up from the book he remained hunched over.

"Yeah…" Max trailed off, not being able to get the two names in the journal out of her head. "So, everything written in here actually happened?" She asked, not sure if she was asking one question too many.

"You think those idjits would've given it to you if it wasn't?" Bobby scoffed, finally looking up to see that Max had stood up and started walking towards him. _Is having light feet one of the perks of being Jesus? _He didn't even hear her stand up.

"So, when he mentions his sons, he means them?" Max asked, placing the journal on Bobby's desk

"Their dad wrote that after their mom died. He's dead too in case you were wondering." Bobby grumbled, a long silence followed afterwards.

"Alllrighty then. Well, I'm gonna go out and explore. You want me to get you anything?" Max asked, pulling her old, ragged hoodie onto her shoulders. Bobby shook his head, and without any objection from who she'd guess she'd be stuck with until she could fulfil her role as Jesus, she left.

The cold, late November air slapped her skin and raised goosebumps on her arms. Though she didn't seem to care, she'd been warming herself from the inside out, her eyes glowing. _First, I'll make some money. Then, I'll buy some shades and gloves. _Max planned out, using her hood to cover her eyes before walking around town to decide which bar was the most populated. _Really? It's like three in the afternoon. _She scoffed internally as she went inside.

"Hey, kid. You can't be in here." The bartender said as Max sat down one of stools.

Max acted offended and sighed, "I'm actually twenty-three," as if several other people had made same mistake before, and reached into her jacket pocket to pull out a fake ID that said she was born seven years earlier than her actual birthdate. It helped to look older than her age with the life she lived, even more helpful that she could act like it too.

"Sorry. You just really young for your age. What can I get you?" He asked, leaning against the counter

"Beer, please." She ordered with a forgiving smile and turned to look around and separate the people drunk enough to steal from and those who she'd have to cheat out of their money. By the time the bartender finally came back with her drink, she'd figured out how to get the most money out of all of them before anyone could find out what she was doing, semi-drunk people first and wasted dumbasses later and then back to the semi-drunk people who'd probably be wasted if she had the time. _Fool-proof, endorsed by fools._

She'd downed her drink and moved on to cheat at poker and pretend she didn't know how to play pool until the very last second with the semi-drunks. The wasted ones were a little easier. All she had to do was make them fall over and when she went to help them up, take their wallets and hide them in her hoodie's inside pockets. Five hours later, she had a pair of aviators, gloves from the thrift shop down the street, and fifty bucks in her pocket as she walked back to Bobby's house in the snow. On the way there, she could've sworn someone was behind her, but no one was there when she turned around. So, she chalked it up to being tired, and stepped inside.

"Where you been?" Bobby asked from the same place Max had left him. The only thing different was that the two bottles of whiskey that were there before turned into five.

"Out..." Max trailed off. "Have you been here the entire time?" She asked, inspecting the empty bottles on the desk. All the whiskey that had been inside originally was gone to the last drop. "Jeez. You know this isn't water right?" Max scolded teasingly.

"Says the girl who smells like beer and cigarettes." Bobby pointed out

"That tends to happen when you hang around a bar for a few hours." Max shrugged

"What the hell were you doing in a bar?" Bobby asked, finally looking up from his book

"I needed money for something to hide my eyes." Max said, readjusting the aviators on her face with a smirk when she thought of the extra money in her pocket. "Anyway, I'm going to bed." She announced and into the basement of Bobby's house and to the panic room that had become where she stayed.

She went out again, same plan, different bar. When she came back, Bobby was once again in the same spot with a different book.

"Do you eat?" Max asked, once again walking into the living room without a sound.

"Who needs food when the world's ending." Bobby muttered, face still buried in his book.

"Humans. I'm not even completely human, and _I _eat." Max scolded as she walking into the kitchen to look inside the refrigerator. All she found was a few cases of beer and something that had so much mold on it, she couldn't tell what it used to be. "What the hell is _that?_" She gagged, holding her nose before walking out the door. Bobby shrugged.

She came back fifteen minutes later with a bag of food that she dropped on top of Bobby's book, a centimeter from his face. "The hell…" Bobby trailed off

"Food. Eat." Max said in simple terms before running downstairs where Bobby couldn't berate her like she figured he would.

The next couple of days went about the same. She went to a bar and made money off the drunken idiots there, and went back to Bobby's. The same feeling of being followed stayed consistent until one day she finally decided to take care of it.

Her sunglasses never left her eyes and the gloves stayed on her hands while she was in public, so the task was a lot less risky than before. She walked down the cold, dimly lit streets to Bobby's house, when, once again, she felt someone walking behind her. She'd turned a corner and jumped up the wall, quickly freezing her back to the concrete higher from the ground than she'd intended, but she stayed put. She watched as a woman turned the corner seconds behind her and looked around for, who Max suspected was, her. Max, then, let frost travel from her arm, to the wall and from there, to the ground where the woman's feet froze. When Max was sure the woman's feet were frozen solid, the dropped down, creating a wind below her to break her fall.

"Who are you?" Max asked capmly from a safe distance away with her eyes narrowed behind her shades.

"So, you _do _exist. That's a new one." The woman smirked, thought the fact she was unable to leave and growing frost along her legs frightened her. Max knew this, and refused to let her think she was in control.

"I don't think you heard me the first time. Who are you?" Max asked again, this time, fire covered her hands. "I won't kill you, but I don't think that'll be a good thing for you."

The woman's eyes watched the flames flicker before she blinked and her eyes took on a pitch black color. "I'm here to make you a queen, kid." The woman said, trying to gain Max's trust, but Max wasn't buying it.

"I've already had this conversation. I picked a side. Neither." Max smirked as she froze the woman solid and ran to Bobby's faster than she thought possible. She'd read about demons in John's journal, and the only thing keeping her from being possessed was the anti-possession necklace Dean gave her and the promise of a tattoo. So, she ran as fast as she could to Bobby's house and burst through the front door panting, "There's...demon...outside...found me...walking back...frozen...concrete..."

"English, Max. English." Bobby said, wheeling himself over to Max who'd dropped to the floor outside the door for air.

"A demon found me!" Max yelled, "I froze her solid, but she's probably already thawing out." Only then did she notice the fire still burning on her fingertips that she quickly put out.

"Damn it…" Bobby cursed, turning around to go out the back door. "Salt the doors and windows! Rock salt's in the basement!" He ordered before the door slammed shut behind him.

Max looked around for a bit before shooting up and running downstairs. _What is my life right now? _She sighed before she grabbed two of the rocksalt bags on the ground and ran around the house like a chicken with her head cut off, pouring lines of salt in front of doors and windows. Bobby came back minutes later with shotguns in his lap. "What the hell's with the arsenal?" Max questioned.

"If one of them found you, they'll be bringin' friends." Bobby warned, throwing a shotgun to her. "You know how to use it?" He asked when he saw her look at him with a ton of confusion.

"Well enough to shoot what I want to shoot, but what about the people they're possessing?" She asked

"That's why the shells are filled with rock salt. It don't kill, but it hurts like hell." Bobby explained before cocking the remaining gun in his lap and going over to the desk to grab two cans of spray paint and a book with a picture of a devil's trap to keep the demons that he suspects are coming from getting inside the house. "Paint this on the floors in front of the doors and windows." Bobby said, handing the spray paint and the book to Max who took long strides to the door.

It'd been an hour since Max had told Bobby about the demons and she was starting to get fidgety.

"Are they coming or aren't they? Just get it over with already!" Max screeched. The last hour had been the longest hour she'd even had to sit through, and couldn't help but wish she could go back to the way things were before. She wanted to go back to Montana and go back to hiding in refrigerators. She wanted to go back to having entire schools to herself during summer break and not worry about something coming to kill or kidnap her.

"Calm down. They might not know we're here." Bobby shushed her, his eyes still glued on the door when a loud thud was heard behind them.

"I think they know we're here." Max muttered, her grip on the book and shotgun in her hands tightened.

"Stick to the plan, you hear?" Bobby reminded her when she stood. She almost mirrored him exactly when he had to kill his wife, scared out of his mind. He looked into her wide eyes and saw, not the thing that would save his boys from the winged assholes known as angels, but a teenage girl who was about to go against something she didn't know existed until about a week ago. Maybe he should've tried to make it easier instead of ignoring her, but it was too late then.

Max's jaw tightened before she answered with newfound determination, "Hunt or be hunted." Her reasoning wasn't far from the truth, but it almost sounded like she'd been in a similar situation before. It was almost like she'd been trying to avoid the outcome she knew would come, and Bobby took notice. But, he'd have to wait to do anything about it once the banging on the door turned into crashing windows from every direction.

"Move your ass. They're tearin' up my-" Bobby started, but when he turned around, she was gone and the shotgun lay on the sofa. _She ran. _Bobby concluded, and wheeled himself into the hallway, picking up her shotgun as he did. He looked ready to go, but the banging had stopped. "The hell?" He muttered.

"Hurry the hell up and exorcise them, damn it! I'm not freaking Superman. I can't keep this up forever!" Max's voice yelled from upstairs in what sounded like the attic by how muffled she sounded, prompting Bobby to look out a window to see that the demons outside were either being held down by tree branches, ice, or both. "Atta girl." He nodded with approval before reciting the Latin needed to send them all to Hell.

When Max finally came downstairs, she was drenched in water and a book was held out a safe distance from herself to keep from getting it wet. She saw Bobby's questioning glance and answered, "Holy water. Book had the thing to make it holy." Bobby still looked at her like she lost her mind, which she thought was understandable, "I think I broke a few of your windows though..."

**A Day Later**

Max and Bobby were holed up in the living room again. Max was cleaning a disassembled pistol that lay on her lap and Bobby was filling empty shotgun shells with salt when the door swung open and Sam and Dean walked in, half expecting Max to have burned Bobby's house down by the time they got back.

"You two been sitting here the entire time?" Sam asked with a laugh when their suspicions proved to be unnecessary.

"Pretty much." Max nodded


	3. Chapter 3: A Match Into Water

_**A Match Into Water - Pierce The Veil**_

* * *

"So, when you say vampires..." Max asked as she and Dean walked to the morgue in the town they'd come to on a job, leaving Sam to research in the motel room the boys shared.

"No, not the sparkly kind." Dean snapped, his disdain for the romanticized displayed as clear as day.

"I was gonna say Dracula, but thank god there aren't sparkly assholes like them running around." Max chuckled, not exactly a Twilight fan either.

Dean nodded his approval, but scrutinized her choice of clothes: a pencil skirt, dress shirt, and four inch heels. "If you aren't one of those chicks, what's with the skirt and heels?" He asked

"If you think I like wearing this bullshit, you're crazy. My legs don't move like they should and my feet are defying gravity. I only wear this shit to get what I want." Max scoffed, and walked inside the morgue. Dean rolled his eyes from behind her. _Women..._

"Agent Richards. This is my C.I. We're here to take a look at the bodies related to the recent serial murders." He introduced flashing his fake FBI badge. The mortician seemed to believe Dean when he said he was an FBI agent, but the part about Max being a C.I. was a little too far fetched for him.

"I'm twenty-three and you're... Thirty?" Max spoke up before he had the chance to say anything, holding the mortician's ID up to see his birth date.

"What the... " He gasped with annoyance, not noticing Dean's widened eyes at the blonde's antics. "Come with me." The mortician said after Max gave him his wallet and ID back before taking them into the morgue to see the bodies.

"What the hell was that?" Dean whisper-yelled from behind her as they walked down the hall a couple paces behind the mortician.

"Me pretending to be a CI." Max shrugged, as though what she did was completely normal.

"So you steal his wallet? When did you even take it?" Dean asked

"It's a secret." Max whispered as if she was a magician revealing the secret behind her tricks.

"How'd you know he wasn't gonna believe the CI thing?" Dean asked, more curious than angry

"Oh, I didn't. I just figured I was low on funds, but I put it back when I realized he didn't believe us." Max shrugged at her accidental save. Dean deadpanned, and the two walked into the morgue.

"So far, there are only five, but they'll be more if the lunatic that did this isn't caught soon. Put 'em back when you're done, huh?" The mortician said, giving Dean the files before turning to walk back out the door.

"I don't get why you and Sam thought it would be a good idea to come here. A human probably killed all these people." Max shrugged, looking for their victims in what she took to calling the dead people freezer.

"It's not who killed them, it's how. You better hope a monster did this, 'cause people are the crazy ones." Dean warned when Max finally pulled out the corpses. Her nose crinkled when the smell invaded her nose, but her eyes continued to study the man's injuries. It didn't seem that bad until you touched him and felt the way his bones moved, all of the broken in one way or another.

"Damn…" Max cringed, pulling her hand back. How she survived as long as she did with things like that around was beyond her.

"Told you." Dean shrugged, cringing after taking a look himself...

* * *

It wasn't until a little after noon did Max and Dean finally leave the morgue. They returned to the motel the three checked into and Dean told her to meet him in he and Sam's room. He seemed somewhat annoyed that Max continued to call him and Sam perverts, and explained that they needed to find out what was killing people.

"I'll swing around after I change." Max dismissed, before spinning around on her heel and walking down the hallway.

"No stealing while we're on a job!" Dean yelled after her

"I wasn't going to!" Max scoffed, though inside she cursed the fact that she'd lost an opportunity to make money. _Damn! Damn! Damn!_ She stumped off to her room and almost slammed the door, leaving Dean behind who'd gone inside his own room once he was sure she was in hers. His expression resembled that of a troubled parent.

"Sammy, you get anything?" Dean asked, throwing the jacket of his suit onto one of the two queen beds in the room

"Nothing. There are millions of Max's around the world, but none look like her." Sam sighed, running his hands through his hair and leaning back at the chair to show his frustration.

"She's coming after she gets changed. We can try to get something out of her then." Dean suggested in a low tone as he grabbed a beer out the refrigerator. Sam nodded and clicked the other window on his laptop with information related to the case.

"She's smart, Dean. She won't slip up." Sam pointed out doubting his brother's plan. They knew nothing about her but her name that may not even be her name. She already knew everything about them, but Max was holding out on them. They couldn't help but be curious about the second Jesus's upbringing.

"If she doesn't, we'll just find another way." Dean dismissed, sitting across the table from Sam with his beer in hand, "So, what'd you get for the case?" He'd prompted Sam

"So, I think we're dealing with either a ghoul, werewolf, or a shifter." Sam said, shifting the conversation just in time for Max to come through the door in her usual torn up jeans and t-shirt.

"Anybody want to explain what those things are?" Max asked, sitting on the window sill like she didn't just break into their room. It wasn't that she didn't see the annoyed looks on the brothers' faces, she just wanted to see how pissed they'd get. 'Testing her boundaries' she'd call it.

"What the hell?" Dean cursed, his eyes narrowed in Max's direction.

"What?" Max asked as innocent as possible, playing dumb like a pro.

"You just broke into our room!" Sam accused

"Dean said I could come." Max defended, her amusement almost making its way into her voice and features

"You knock. We could've been naked." Dean countered

"Fine…" Max sighed, standing up and walking back out the door, shutting it behind her. The boys looked at each other with annoyance. Was she serious? They thought in unison. A moment later, she was rapping on the door.

"Everybody decent now?" Max's muffled voice asked from outside, standing on the other side of the door with a hand on her hip and her eyes rolling behind her glasses.

Sam sighed and got up to open the door for the annoying teenager. One day, Dean's gonna strangle her… "Seriously?" Sam deadpanned as Max walked under his arm and into the room. She'd returned to her previous spot on the windowsill, waiting for one of the two to start talking about the case. "Close enough." Sam sighed with a nod, deciding to try to make her resemble a human being one step at a time.

"Alright, so we went to the morgue. Now what?" Max asked, curious to see what they were going to do next. After getting jumped by demons at Bobby's, she'd seemed to be a little curious as to what other monsters there were out there. Now that she knew the extent to which she could use her 'tricks' without killing anyone. Not that she didn't read the book or anything… She just didn't finish it.

"We have to go talk to the victims' families." Dean sighed with a shake of his head, "But, you get to stay here." He added before she got the idea she was going with them in her head, but he was too late.

"What do you mean 'stay here'?" Max asked, this time it was her turn to be annoyed

"You have about as much people skills as Cas." Sam snorted, just then finding his statement to be true.

"Dude, I got two people to basically hand me their wallets yesterday. People skills, my ass." Max laughed humorlessly

"People skills that don't end in stealing from them." Sam corrected, watching as Max's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"Fine." Max grumbled, turning to walk back to her room. Sam and Dean knocked on her door maybe half an hour later to tell her to stay there until they came back.

"Read the journal again or something." Dean had said before and Sam left

* * *

Max sat around for what she thought was forever. She'd watched a Smallville marathon and drank enough coffee to give the energizer bunny a heart attack. But the Winchester boys still hadn't returned, which was when she got bored and started looking around the room. One of the maids must have missed something from the last person. Upon further inspection, she was wrong.

"I wonder if I can do that awesome heat vision thing like Clark…" Max wondered aloud, narrowing her eyes at the door. And, while her eyes did heat up, all she did was nearly burn them out of her skull. They hurt so bad, she thought she saw another her outside.

"Chloe!" Clark's voice yelled from the television, drawing Max's attention. Clark, Brainiac, and Clark's friend, Chloe, stood inside a crumbling dam. Brainiac had taken Clark's form and started tearing everything he loved apart with stolen powers. Chloe couldn't tell which one was which to use the deadly kryptonite she held in her hand.

"That's not Clark! That's…" Max trailed off, finally realizing her own dilemma. If what she and the boys were hunting was a shapeshifter, and it copied her. It might be able to do much more than screw up her criminal record. I...She could kill somebody… She could go on a rampage!

"Go!" Clark barked from the television, sending Max out the door.

* * *

"As if it wasn't enough to kill him, they took his money too!" A grieving widow sobbed. The unfortunate poodle she held dyed black by the dripping eyeliner the tissue in her other hand didn't catch. Sam and Dean exchanged awkward looks at how artificial the tears seemed. "When you find the person who did this, it would be wonderful if you could notify me." The widow sniffled

"Yes, ma'am." Sam nodded, he and Dean standing at the same time

"Manny! Show these two gentlemen out!" The widow yelled to someone inside the mansion. A man scuffling in moments later from another room to lead them outside where Dean's Impala waited

"I think I just saw Max's future." Sam joked, though a little disturbed at how possible it was

"Watching her's like babysitting a five year-old." Dean grumbled, ducking into his beloved Impala after finally.

"Dean, you acted like that when you were her age." Sam snorted, remembering the rebellious years of Dean Winchester a little too well. As a matter of fact, they hadn't ended yet…

"I wasn't a bitch though..." Dean muttered just loud enough for Sam to hear who'd shook his head at his older brother.

"You think Max'll stay put?" Sam asked, changing the subject before he did something he'd regret.

"Does that look like staying put to you?" Dean asked, nodding over to the Max walking on the sidewalk across the street.

"Damn it…" Sam sighed, just wishing she'd listen for once as Dean drove next to her on the sidewalk, keeping her pace.

"Max, what the hell? We told you to stay put." Dean scolded, but it took the girl a moment to process that he was talking to her. She turned to look at the two, but only for a second.

"I needed to get some air." She answered, just hoping they would go away. From what she'd seen of Max's memories, she knew they were the Winchesters. And, she, like many other shifters, knew that Winchester's didn't let many of their kind live. She also knew that she wouldn't be alone if found out. She had to get away.

Sam and Dean almost hit their heads on the dashboard of the Impala when it jolted to a stop. "What the hell?" Sam gasped in surprise, recovering quick enough to realize the door was stuck and colder than it was before. The Max they saw turned around to look at them, her eyes glowing in their direction, fearful and ready to kill if need be.

"Max!" Dean yelled down the street, but, at that point, she was already dead set on finding the real Max and running like hell. With powers like hers, she could take the Alpha shifter out and be a queen. What was just her earning some extra cash and letting out some steam became her plotting a coup against her own mother.

* * *

"Max! Max!" The real Max yelled, hoping that the shifter knew her name and would answer to it. She'd run around so long, she'd started to wonder if Sam and Dean had found out she left yet and how angry they were. She groaned at the thought of another lecture. Maybe they won't stay mad when I tell them what we're looking for... She hoped, and finally gave up with the logic that Sam and Dean would know what to do.

She walked back from the way she came and noticed ice on the sidewalk. It was cold, but there wasn't any water to freeze. And, she was pretty sure that it didn't freeze into a perfect shoe imprint. Her shoes. "Damn it!" Max cursed, she had no idea how to kill the stupid thing and yet she went on a wild goose chase for who knows how long. Stupid! She shook her head, breaking into a sprint to the motel, not having the patience to wait for Sam or Dean to answer the door. She just picked the lock on her door.

"What the hell do you want?" Dean grumbled, his feet resting on the table he sat at, a beer in his hand.

"Look, I'm sorry I picked the lock but I-" Max blurted out, just trying to get to the point, but was cut off.

"You could've just said you wanted to leave, you didn't have to hurt Baby. You didn't have to make me hurt Baby." Dean hissed, pulling his feet off the table to stand

"I'm sorry… Who?" Max asked, but she was being pushed out the door. "Damn it, Dean! Listen to me for five seconds!" She pleaded, but the door was promptly shut in her face. "It wasn't me! Listen to me! Dean!" She banged on the door and pleaded for him to open up, but quickly found that there was no way he was going to believe her. She was the little girl crying wolf. So, she dragged her feet to her room and slipped inside, her head hanging. When she looked up, she saw another Max looking at her.

"Hi." She smiled at the original. Max's eyes squinted and scrutinized her clone.

"What? Did you come here to kill me?" Max muttered, chuckling on the inside at the amount of times she'd asked that question since she'd learned what she was.

"No, because I know you don't want to kill me." The clone smiled triumphantly, her eyes never leaving the ones she stole.

"Why?" Max asked, setting her arms on fire to make it known that that wasn't what she wanted at all.

"That's because I know things about you that you've forgotten. The things you locked away..." The shifter explained, the same look of control on her face.

"Does Leonora mean anything to you?" Max tested, almost afraid to her the answer that left the shifter's lips...her lips.

"That's your name. That's the name he gave you." It smiled, pulling a necklace with dog tags and a flattened quarter with writing on it off her neck and placing it on the bed next to her. She knew that with that one object, she'd won. "I know other names too. Maxine Wright, Simon and Marie Davisson… Do I need to go on to make my point?" She asked, an eyebrow raising, thought they both knew there wasn't really anybody else for her to remember.

"No… What do you want?" Max glared at herself, knowing that there'd be a catch to information.

"I want you to disappear. I want to rule over my kind. I want a million dollars." The shifter went on jokingly, "Bottom line, I want a lot of things. I'll give you what you want, and you'll give me one of the things I want. My life for his name." It proposed.

Max slowly backed up to the door, her hand searching it for the knob, but the shifter wouldn't have it and froze the door shut. "Let me out!" Max demanded, freezing her own hand solid to form a weapon and using the other to burn a message to Sam and Dean on the door. She held onto the hope that she wouldn't need it.

"I'm trying to give you your family back!" The shifter yelled back, unable to see where her plan went wrong.

"I'm an orphan. They gave me up! They don't want me back!" Max divulged, freezing the door to cover the message. Immediately, she threw the first thing she could find at the wall she and the brothers' rooms shared.

"Jeez, I bring up your fam and you throw a hissy fit." The shifter scoffed

"Hissy fit? You're walking around as me with my powers. You come in here talking nonsense! I think I have the right to a little 'hissy fit'." Max huffed, her eyes narrowing in the shifters direction.

"So, we got a deal?" It asked, despite her blatant rejection of the offer

"No!" Max's voice boomed, electricity moving from her fingertips to the floor in a bout of blind rage. "You're going to let me out and I'm going to get Sam and Dean to kick your ass." Max growled, turning to walk out the door, thinking that she wouldn't need the note after all. But, before her hand could even touch the knob, the shifter wrapped her arms around her and froze her limbs together. Max could only watch before she registered what was happening.

"Fine, I'll just get what I want then." The shifter shrugged, throwing Max over her shoulder while still keeping her frozen.

"I'm sorry, you bastards. Now, help m-!" Max's scream was cut off when the ice spread to her face. As it turned out, the rate at which the shifter froze was too fast for Max to melt and eventually froze her completely.

* * *

A while after Max stopped banging on the wall, Sam came out of the bathroom from the shower to see Dean still sulking at the table. It looked like he hadn't move since he'd left him.

"Was that Max?" Sam asked, pulling a shirt over his head.

"Yeah, that was her." Dean spat, taking a long swig from his second beer.

"And?" Sam asked, expecting there to be more to what he was saying

"And what? She left." Dean shrugged

"Dean, you let the one thing person who might be able to fix what I did walk out the door." Sam scolded, leaning on the table and staring his brother in the eyes

"Oh no, she didn't walk, I kicked her out." Dean corrected with a smug look

"Dean, really?" Sam scolded before they heard something break in the hallway

Sam sent a look down at Dean before both ran out into the hallway to find it half frozen and a table being held up by a thin piece of ice. When they didn't see her in the hallway, they slipped into her room through the open door with their guns ready for anything.

"Max?!" Dean called into the empty room. The carpet had burned from when Max electrocuted it. As for the rest of the room, most if not all the furniture in the room was tossed over.

"Dean..." Sam called from beside the lone bed, finding Max's necklace having fallen on the floor. The tags and quarter attached to the chain still intact. The first tag read: _Maxine Christina Wright April 3, 1994_. The second: _Michelle Davisson_ and looked like something you'd buy at PetSmart. There was also a quarter that was most likely flattened by a train with the name: _Leonora_ scratched in the middle in tiny letters.

"She was just here." Dean announced, "Call me if you find anything."

"Where are you going?" Sam asked, his eyes leaving the necklace as soon as the door opened

"She couldn't be that far. I'ma go look for her. You stay here and see if you can find out what we're dealing with." Dean proposed, taking one last look at the room before closing the door and speed walking outside.

* * *

When Max woke up again, the tip of her index and middle finger burned, but she was drenched in some kind of liquid and freezing cold. She was chained to either the floor or wall. And, at first, thought she was in a dark room, but realized there was something covering her eyes. A cloth maybe? "Really? You couldn't have just roofied me or something? That actually hurt…" Max complained with her usual sarcasm. She listened intently for footsteps or scuffling. She heard none.

"But, that requires energy we don't have." The shifter muttered as if responding to a joke, a shrug most likely followed.

"So, what's with the bondage? The eye covering isn't really necessary is it?" Max reasoned, shaking her chains for added emphasis

"You can't hit what you can't see." The shifter rationalized

Max's eyes narrowed under her bindings and burned through it, her eyes momentarily burning with it. "Would you look at that? It's a miracle." She cheered with even more sarcasm, blinking erratically as she squinted at the chains binding her then blue wrists. "I have frostbite, you ass!" Max screeched

"You better be careful, Nora. You're covered in gasoline. Wouldn't want to burn yourself up, would you?" The shifter hinted, prompting Max to sniff her clothes and wrinkle her nose when she realized she was right. Maybe she was too scared before to realize she was covered in her own kryptonite. But, the shifter was walking away in her body and she needed to find a way out to think about it further.

"Hey! Bring my ass back here!" Max yelled after her, but it was no use. The door closed behind the shifter, leaving Max alone to examine the chains holding her down. She'd been hoping that the shifter put a lock on them, but they are were welded together. The decision to save herself from excruciating pain weighed out over freedom. "Bitch." Max hissed

* * *

Dean had barely gotten out to the parking lot before his phone started ringing in his pocket.

"Dean, I found something." Sam blurted out as soon as the phone stopped ringing.

"That was quick." Dean muttered

"Yeah, well you missed something important when you left. Max left something for us. We're hunting a shifter." Sam informed, ignoring Dean's comment, staring at the single word seared onto the door: _shift_

"Awesome..." Dean sighed ducking inside his Impala and rolling down his broken windows. "So, I'm guessing that wasn't Max earlier?"

"Yeah, which means it can do what Max can... And we owe her an apology... Be careful until I get there." Sam warned from the other end.

"Yeah." Dean nodded before hanging up. Neither knew exactly what Max could do besides what they'd already seen and what she told them. But, Max had a habit of keeping things from people, so they could only imagine what else she could do and to what extent. It made Dean a little relieved to have her on their side instead of the angels' no matter how annoying she could be.

**Two Hours Later**

Before long, he found one of the Maxs breaking into a house near the outside of the town. He hoped that it was the real Max. But just in case she wasn't, he parked down the street from the house and dug a machete out from his trunk. He didn't move until he sent Sam a text with the address.

* * *

Max, in the same dimly lit room she'd been in, had tried to make herself comfortable against the wall behind her. It was hard to do with the way her hands were tied, the cold, and the smell on her hair and clothes. But, she did.

_"Where am I going?" A six year-old Max asked as an old nun helped her into a dress and braided her, then, long blonde hair_

_"Some nice couple is coming to adopt you, now sit still. I'm almost finished." The nun ordered, her old shaking hands trying their best to fix the girl's usually wild curly hair_

_"Is Alex coming?" Max asked, fighting the urge to turn around and look at the nun_

_"No. It's just you. Now, go in there, hold your head up, and be a good girl. Some children don't get chances like this." The nun ordered, pushing her towards the door_

_"But, I wanna stay." Max sniffled, not ready to leave her best friend by herself_

_"You can't. Stop crying. They're going to give you a home. Alex will find that too." The nun ordered, stricter than the time before_

_"But, you said some children-" Max recited before being cut off_

_"She'll find a home, now go!" The nun rushed, leading Max down the hall to the door where a tall blond man and a brunette woman stood clutching each other._

_"This is Leonora." The nun introduced Max who'd stood behind her_

_"She's so precious!" The brunette woman gushed, crouching down to Max's height to try and catch a glimpse of the girl. "You don't have to be afraid of me, sweetheart. I promise I won't let anything happen to you." The woman promised solemnly_

_Max's eyes looked up to the nun she hid behind who gave a curt nod as if to reassure her that the woman was telling the truth. So, Max poked her head out from behind her, limb by limb coming into the couple's view. "Promise?"_

_"Promise." The blond man nodded, dropping down to her level. The brunette she assumed was his wife had begun to lead her out, but Max never stopped looking for those familiar brown pigtails._

"Wait!" Max screeched upon waking. She woke reaching for her friend, but instead, she was greeted by darkness that made even her hands in front of her face hard to see. How long have I been sleeping? She wondered before another voice echoed in the dark.

"Max?" Dean called into the darkness in a similar predicament as her

"Oh, please tell me you aren't my search party…" Max groaned, her eyes rolling for added annoyance

A low, "Yeah..." echoed back and Max's head hung, secondhand embarrassment weighing her down

"Nice job, dumbass." Max scolded before her head snapped back up. "It didn't cover you in any gasoline, did it?" She asked

"No, why?" Dean asked, his interest piqued

"Gimmie your pants." Max ordered

"Why?" Dean asked again

"Don't get any stupid ideas, you freaking pedophile. I'm drenched in gasoline and can't burn my way out without setting myself on fire. I'll help you after." Max explained, growing impatient and afraid that the shifter might come back before she had the chance to free them.

"Fine, but I can't see you." Dean replied

"Just look for two blue and glowing circles." Max said, freezing the floor so her eyes would glow. Dean's jeans hit her in the face moments later. "Bleh! Your pants smell like gunpowder and disinfectant." Max gagged while drying off her hands

"Why're you smelling my pants?" Dean questioned with a disgusted tone

"You threw it in my face!" Max yelped, and started burning her way through her chains. She wanted to scream bloody murder, but it wasn't just her anymore. So, she held her tongue until the chains expanded enough for her to slip her hands out. "Freedom!"

"Hurry up and get me out." Dean rushed, but got his own jeans thrown in his face

"Put your pants on first." Max suggested, just looking for a reason to examine wrists.

"Alright, now, hurry up." Dean rushed again after going through the long process of putting on his jeans with tied hands

"Yeah, yeah." Max dismissed, engulfing the welded links in flames from her index finger that resembled a blowtorch. "Don't. Move." She warned through her teeth, though Dean would inevitably feel the heat at some point.

"What the hell happened to your wrists?" Dean asked, blinking twice. There were partial lines around her wrists the color of charcoal and red around the edges. It held stark contrast to her usually pale skin.

"Fire burns things. I got burnt." Max sighed, breaking the links off and immediately freezing her finger to stop the pain for a while. "I'll take care of it later. Let's go." She rushed, immediately running towards the door the second Dean stood up.

"We have to get to the Impala." Dean said, expecting some kind of response from the teenager, but a nod was all he got.

"There was a window in here before." Max muttered to herself, moving back down into the basement, and letting her hand glide along the brick. Soon her fingers met the smooth glass and a triumphant smirk slid onto her face. "I'm awesome." She praised herself before the two scrambled out the window and across the street to the car.

* * *

Sam opted to follow Dean on foot, not seeing a reason to steal a car just yet. He'd walked for a little less than two hours before his phone vibrated in his pocket with a text from Dean, an address. Unfortunately, he'd been walking in the opposite direction and would have to run the entire way back. He knew Dean wouldn't wait for him to go inside, especially not with someone he knew missing. Forty-five minutes in the opposite direction and he was standing down the road from Dean and a doused Max.

"Hey, you okay? Did you kill it?" Sam asked, looking Max over for any injuries before turning to Dean.

"No, but Max thinks she knows how." Dean said, not exactly happy with her plan. Still, who better to find a way to kill her than herself?

* * *

"Chop off her head with this and she's gone. Got it?" Dean said as he handed a machete to Max who nodded with understanding

"Don't let her touch you." Max warned, looking between Sam and Dean who nodded in unison before creeping into the house.

Sam and Dean had split up to search different parts of the first floor while Max opted to take the basement.

She crept down each step, gripping the machete tight. The dark room she stood in seemed daunting with the many places to hide she'd missed the first time. Her eyes squinted in the dark even with her newly acquired flashlight. She checked the small room and closet nearby before coming to the conclusion that it wasn't down there. Lucky her. Not so much for Sam.

"Dean! Max!" Sam's voice boomed from the first floor followed by several loud thumps, sending Max bounding up the stairs. _Don't let her kill anyone._ Was the only thought on her mind.

When Max made it to the top of the stairs, she'd narrowly missed a flying machete aimed for her head. The fact that it was red hot only seemed to piss her off. "Hey!" Max yelled, gripping her own machete tighter before running at her with it, Dean quickly moving out of the way. Unfortunately, she'd frozen her neck before Max could touch her, forcing the machete back. Max, in turn, gripped the machete by the blade, let it get hot enough to slice through without issue and swung again. The shifter moved out of the way and attempted to kick Max with an electricity covered boot. Max staggered backwards, quickly looking over her shoulder to Sam and Dean. One look from, and they were gone in separate directions.

"You should've taken the deal." The shifter smirked as if it'd already won, a familiar look hiding behind her eyes

"Is someone stalling? Is it getting too hot for you?" Max taunted, in the best baby voice she could muster without giving hints to her own pain. She just needed to set one piece of clothing on fire. She just needed to send one bolt of electricity into her heart. Even if she didn't die, it'd hurt like hell.

It glared the way Max did when she was proved wrong and lounged at her again, but that time, Max was ready. She moved quickly. She stepped to the side, grabbed her wrist, tripped her, and froze her to the spot in the wooden floor. Then, she made sure to look it in the eyes. Her eyes. "Last time I checked, I don't have a twin." Max smiled sweetly, an action that veiled her distaste.

"I don't think I'll be getting out of this one, so how about a blast to the past?" The shifter smirked. Max had already turned to look at Sam who'd come back with a gallon of gasoline. But, when she looked back down, she didn't like what she saw.

Max's eyes softened at the kid that took her doppelganger's place before they were filled with rage. Her hands burned and her eyes saw only red. There, frozen to the floor was the little girl with brunette pigtails Max thought she'd never see again. Max went in and out of anger and guilt for the girl that seemed so much smaller than Max remembered. _Alex._ And, before a word could escape Max's lips, her head was no longer attached to the body that had fallen away from Max's grasp. She wanted to scream, but her head constantly had to remind her that it wasn't her friend. Her heart didn't get the message.

"Max. Max!" Sam called, imagining the shock she felt

"What?" She asked, still somewhat in a daze, her eyes never leaving the little girl's body. It wasn't until she was forcibly turned around by two hands clamped to her shoulders did she realize who was talking to her. "What?" She asked again, this time coherent and seeing the frost forming on her eyelashes.

When she turned around, Sam and Dean's faces had dropped considerably from the quick glance she'd gotten. _Am I burning? Sparking? I don't feel anything…_ She wondered. Whatever they had originally turned her around to say had gotten lost in the silence. Instead a sympathetic, "Come on, kid." Floated up into the air. Max wasn't even entirely sure she knew who it came from.

* * *

It was a silent drive back, the brothers sending looks to each other and the unnervingly quiet teenager in the backseat. Sam couldn't help but regret bringing her into the angels and demons mess. He wasn't sure that she fully understood what she was getting herself into, it didn't seem fair. He knew Dean felt the same way he did with the sympathetic looks in the rearview mirror. Maybe Jesse was smart to run when he did. They of anyone should know that the life they lived was no place for children or anyone even remotely sane for that matter. Still, they needed her.

His internal struggle had come to an end when they parked in front of the motel and Max tried her best to slip out of the Impala. Sam and Dean shared a quick look as they stumbled out the door before she could get too far. Both fumbled through their heads for something to start conversation as they marched up the stairs.

"Hey, Max," Sam spoke up, waiting to make sure he had her attention, "I think the shifter dropped your necklace earlier."

With that, Max immediately reached up for something that wasn't there with horror. "Where is it?" She asked quickly, finally saying more than a word.

"I left it in the room." Sam answered, thrusting a thumb behind him. "Come on. I'll get it." He coaxed, knowing that it was time to find out what the hell was up with the different names and the girl from before. Dean seemed to understand and walked behind her. Once inside, Sam moved to the back of the room to retrieve it from the dresser. He tossed it back to Max who'd relaxed before she'd even touched it.

"Listen, Max. I don't know who that, girl was from before. That's your business." Dean started, Sam sending glares from across the room that showed the fact that he wanted to have another one of his Doctor Phil talks. "But, that's not as bad as it gets" He finished, ignoring the looks Sam shot him

"Naturally." Max nodded slowly knowing that there was more, not that she wanted to hear it.

"I meant what I said before. If you want to go home, you can go." Dean assured her, Max's expression somewhat shocked at the statement.

"No, I can't." Max shook her head, standing taller.

"Why?" Sam asked, having watched the things that seemed to bother her

"Because I don't have one." Max answered


End file.
